Port will aim to continue their unbeaten run at home when they entertain Bangkok Glass on Wednesday. With Port flying high after a hard-fought draw with Buriram, a solid win against Ubon and then last week’s astonishing away victory at table-topping Chiang Rai, Port Coach Jadet will likely be trying to manage expectations both from his players and the fans. In-form striker Josimar told The Sandpit (interview coming later in the week!) that he and his teammates thrive when they are the David to their opponent’s Goliath, so despite the positive results and the surprising points total, expect a battling underdog’s performance from Port. It’s worked pretty well in the last few games, so let’s hope for more of the same!

Bangkok Glass

Players to Watch

There are only a handful of defenders as good as Port captain Rochela (22) in T1, and one of them is 34 year old Bangkok Glass captain Matt Smith (4). He’s strong, good in the air, reads the game well and never shuts up. Constantly organizing his back four and driving his team on, Smith is an invaluable asset to the Glass Rabbits. In what is set to be a key match-up, he will be tasked with keeping Josimar (30) quiet on Wednesday. With Josimar having scored 2 in this last 2 outings, Smith will need to use all of his experience to stop the Brazilian.

Ariel Rodriguez (7) is a speedy forward who has scored 22 goals in 31 games since signing for Glass in 2016. The diminutive forward won’t be winning much in the air, but his darting runs in behind will stretch the Port defence, who will have to be constantly vigilant in order to keep track of him. Ominously, the Costa Rican international has 4 goals to his name already this season. Port will have to be on top of their game to contain him.

Sarawut Masuk (14) may have been preferred to Jakkapan Pornsai (10) lately in Thai National Team squads, but I think Jakkapan is an absolute nightmare to deal with when he’s on his game. When he played for Suphanburi in 2015 he scored 13 goals and provided 14 assists, putting him in the TPL team of the season. He possesses a cultured right foot and has the ability to pass, cross or shoot with real quality from anywhere in the final third. Think of him as the opposition’s Pakorn, only a bit more consistent!

Matt Smith, Ariel Rodriguez and Jakkapan Pornsai

Form

The Glass Rabbits have been hopping all over the place so far this season as far as their form is concerned. A crushing 0-4 home defeat against Muangthong on the opening day of the season was followed up by a disappointing 0-0 away draw at Super Power, who picked up their only point so far this season against Glass. Glass finally got off the mark at home in their third game, and made up for lost time by putting 6 past an admittedly awful Sisaket side. Impressive 3-2 home wins against Ratchaburi and Bangkok Utd sandwiched a 1-1 way draw at Suphanburi, after which Glass claimed an incredible third 3-2 win in four games to take all three points away at Navy. Just as they looked to be building up a head of steam at Leo Stadium, Glass suffered probably their worst result of the season so far, slumping to a 0-1 defeat at home to Thai Honda last week.

All I can say about Glass’ form is that it’s unpredictable! They’re unbeaten away from home, although they have played three teams in the bottom half, and they’ve had a huge win, a huge loss and a few dramatic 3-2s at home. Compared to the legitimately scary mob from up North who Port turned over last week, there’s certainly less to fear from Glass, although they are still a quality side who will be expected to be in the top 5 or 6 come the business end of the season.

Port FC

Starting XI – Getting Predictable

Jadet seems to have found a formula he likes, and the Port lineups are getting quite a bit easier to predict!

In goal will be Worawut (36) who – if he keeps up the heroic penalty-saving goalkeeping performances – could well make it difficult for Rattanai (17) to come back in to the team once he returns to fitness. A nice problem to have!

At the back there could well be a change, but only because of injury concerns. Panpanpong (19) picked up a knock and had to be substituted after the poor challenge that gifted Chiang Rai the penalty last week, and Jadet chose to bring on Meechok (20) at right back, shifting Nitipong (34) over to the left. If Panpanpong is fit I expect him to start, but if not then we will probably see Meechok and Nitipong again.

Rochela (22) and Dolah (4) seem set to continue at the back, although if Todsapol (6) has returned to full fitness, he could well be preferred to Dolah. Against a team who likes to play the ball on the floor and utilize the pace and trickery of Rodriguez up front, it may be wise to choose pace over power, but again it all depends on Todsapol’s fitness.

Midfield and attack now look to be very settled. After I called for Pakorn (9) to either be given a good talking to or dropped last week, he stepped up and won our Man of the Match award for a vastly improved display against Chiang Rai. It seems almost certain that Genki (18), Adisorn (13), Siwakorn (16), and Suarez (5) will join him in midfield, with a confident Josimar (30) leading the line after scoring twice in his last two games.

Predicted Lineup

Key Battle

Josimar vs. Matt Smith

I expect a lot of important duels to be going on all over the pitch between two quite well-matched sides, but the most intriguing one for me is Josimar vs. Smith. At 34 years old Smith, despite his experience, isn’t at the peak of his powers, whereas in-form Josimar looks like a real handful. Can Josimar make it three goal-scoring games in a row or will Smith keep the Brazilian under wraps?

The match will be shown live on True Sport HD 3 at 18:00 on Wednesday 19 April, 2017

Having moved to Thailand aged 10, Tom has been playing or watching football in Thailand for more than 18 years. A keen follower of the Thai National Team and an avid fan of Port FC, he is a regular contributor to The Sandpit.

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